The wellness industry has spent decades and billions of dollars trying to crack the longevity code. Cold plunges. Continuous glucose monitors. Supplements, supplements, supplements. And after all of that, the internet has arrived at its latest answer: just live like an Italian grandmother.
“Nonnamaxxing” is the idea that adopting the daily habits of an Italian nonna could add years to your life and make those years feel like something. Walk more. Eat real food. Stay connected to your community. Drink your coffee without also answering emails. According to SELF, it’s been circulating on social media, and for once, the wellness trend du jour has actual science behind it.
Italy consistently ranks among the longest-lived countries in the world; its oldest citizens keep getting older, and Sardinia has earned a spot on the short list of places on earth where people routinely live past 100, known as Blue Zones. Something is working there, and it predates every wellness app by about three generations.
Licia Fertz, a 96-year-old nonna based in Viterbo, Italy, told SELF her philosophy is simple. “Never think of yourself as old,” she said. “You are born young.” She also gets dressed every morning, puts on makeup, and wears cheerful colors whether she’s leaving the house or not, because “presenting yourself well is an act of self-love.” No app required.
There’s real research behind that mindset. A recent study found a measurable association between how women perceive aging and the actual rate at which they age. Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor of psychology at UC Riverside, said the framing is important. “Is it a gift? Is it about wisdom, maturity, and the richness of life, or is it about deterioration and loss?” she said. “Both can be true. But you can choose.”
‘Nonnamaxxing’ Is the Comfort-Core Trend Gen Z Can’t Quit
The physical stuff is less mysterious. Italian nonne walk constantly, not because they’ve optimized their step count, but because that’s how Italian cities work. Daniel Lieberman, a professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, said that walking remains “the most fundamental form of human physical activity,” with hundreds of studies confirming it helps people age better. A 2025 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that even 15 minutes of brisk walking daily can reduce the risk of premature death. That’s it. Fifteen minutes.
Community is just as important as movement. Italian grandmothers stay embedded in their families and neighborhoods well into old age, providing childcare, staying socially active, refusing to quietly disappear. Research in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that people who volunteered more than 100 hours a year had lower mortality risk, more optimism, and a stronger sense of purpose. Fertz put it in a simpler way. Boredom, she told SELF, is “the one thing that truly makes you old.”
Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert explained that nonnamaxxing resonates because people are genuinely exhausted by hustle culture. “A lot of younger people are burned out by the pressure to constantly optimize themselves, be productive, and turn their lives into content,” he said. The appeal, he added, is “the fantasy of a life that feels grounded, warm, and unhurried.”
Which is, when you strip away the trend packaging, just a description of a good life. Italian grandmothers have been living it for centuries. The rest of us are just now looking up from our phones to notice.
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